Metro Detroit’s favorite outdoor concert venue is set to kick into action, as Pine Knob Music Theatre launches its 2026 season on Saturday, May 23, with a show headlined by rapper Kid Cudi.
The venerable Clarkston amphitheater will host 45 shows this summer, rolling through a schedule of rock, country, pop and hip-hop before wrapping up with an Oct. 3 date from Nashville duo Dan + Shay. The calendar features a couple of Pine Knob first-timers, including Detroit native Jack White (July 25), who will be making a rare suburban concert appearance.
Earlier this month, venue officials revealed Pine Knob’s official 2026 season poster, designed by College of Creative Studies student Anthony Pizzo. His work was selected following an in-school competition, the latest edition of an annual contest that began in 2023.
In a statement, Pizzo elaborated on his pine-inspired piece.
“I love nature, and I love music; they are some of the most important things in my life,” he said. “I was super excited to work this out and really focus on the nature of Pine Knob.”
Pine Knob, which opened in 1972 and endures as one of the nation’s longest-running concert amphitheaters, is sporting a new state-of-the-art flourish this year: a 32-foot-high marquee equipped with a 158-square-foot digital sign.
The structure, which stands along the Pine Knob entrance at Sashabaw Road and Bob Seger Drive, was brought to life by Troy’s Gardner Signs and Farmington’s Electro-Matic.
Kid Cudi will be joined Saturday night by openers Big Boi, Chip Tha Ripper and A-Trak. Next up on the Pine Knob docket are Kesha (June 5), the Strokes (June 15), MGK (June 16) and the Doobie Brothers (June 18).
Pine Knob Music Theatre, 2026 concert schedule
May 23: Kid Cudi
June 5: Kesha
June 15: The Strokes
June 16: MGK
June 18: Santana and the Doobie Brothers
June 19: Sammy Hagar
June 21: Godsmack
June 27: Darius Rucker (99.5 WYCD Hoedown)
July 3: The Guess Who
July 10: Jack Johnson
July 11-12: Luke Bryan
July 13: Muse
July 16: John Mellencamp
July 17: Hank Williams Jr.
July 18: The Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers
July 20: Mötley Crüe
July 24: Lil Wayne
July 25: Jack White
July 26: Kidz Bop
July 29: Ne-Yo and Akon
July 30: 311 and Dirty Heads
July 31: Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner
Aug. 1: Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band
Aug. 2: Evanescence
Aug. 4: Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte
Aug. 5: Train
Aug. 6: 5 Seconds of Summer
Aug. 15: Hilary Duff
Aug. 16: Five Finger Death Punch
Aug. 21: Deep Purple
Aug. 22: Outlaw Music Festival
Aug. 23: TLC and Salt-N-Pepa
Aug. 28: Tim McGraw
Aug. 29: Toto
Sept. 4: Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson
Sept. 6: Wu-Tang Clan
Sept. 13: Breaking Benjamin
Sept. 15: $uicideboy$
Sept. 18: Babymetal
Sept. 19: Hayley Williams
Sept. 23: Logic and G-Eazy
Sept. 24: Brooks & Dunn
Sept. 27: Staind
Oct. 3: Dan + Shay
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pine Knob kicks off 2026 season Saturday with new marquee, poster
Reporting by Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
